For a long time, the Moon was considered virtually waterless. A turning point came after 2009, when missions revealed the presence of ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the poles. However, high-precision analysis of Apollo samples indicates that the bulk of the water is not in a free state but exists as hydroxyl groups "locked" within mineral structures. The key to this discovery lies in findings of apatite, a mineral that traps water within its crystals.
This shifts our perspective on the Moon's origins and the "water budget" of the Earth-Moon system following the giant impact 4.5 billion years ago. If water is bound deep within the interior, it is crucial to understand its distribution and the actual quantity present.
NASA’s *Lunar Trailblazer* orbiter—launched in February 2025 to map lunar water—was intended to provide these answers. However, the spacecraft was lost due to a configuration error following its separation from the launch vehicle.
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